What a rollercoaster of a ride! I thought I knew all about weight loss but nature threw a curve ball at me. I was doing so well but I woke up one morning to find that I had gained three pounds over the course of twenty-four hours. I had counted all carbs and it was far below my allotted amount. I had exercised quite a bit that day too so I felt confident that I going to see a new number. Boy, when I stepped on that scale thinking I would see a much lower number, I was astonished to find out that I had gained three pounds. The rest of the week went about the same. This week’s weight loss was a struggle but I managed to lose exactly one pound. I’ll take it.
After a rough start to the week, I was able to get back on track and do what I needed to do. To help matters, I had a flower bed that I needed to replace the dead rose bushes. It took me three days to do it but I managed to replace the dead bushes with new bushes. I am completely worn out. After all that I managed to lose 2.8 pounds last week.
Model Heavin A recent picture I took of a young lady
Drum Roll Please………. 15.6 pounds down since August 19th. No, that’s probably not healthy to lose this much in one week but consider this, it’s mostly fluid. I started taking a drug known as Metolazone which is a booster drug to Bumetanide. Bumetanide, or Bumax for short, is a drug to get the excess fluid off the body. When taken with Metolzone, it’s like Bumax on steroids. There is a certain way I have to take it in order for it to work. It doesn’t take but a week or two to get all the fluid out from inside the body. Now, if I have confirmed fluid in my lung cavity then I have to get rid of the fluid another way, Bumax won’t help there.
Not only did I take the booster drug this week, but I’ve also cut carbs, and salt and I’ve done a little bit of exercise. While on the drugs to help get rid of the fluid, I can lose upwards of 2 pounds a day. Once off the drug, I’ll be good to lose less than a pound a week.
I’m off the drug so we’ll see what happens next week.
I turned 59 a few days ago. I did not go into a dark, deep depression. It was just another day for me. As many health problems as I have, I consider it a blessing just to wake up in the mornings. My wife, on the other hand, has an issue with each birthday she comes across. She’s a little over a year older than me and when she turned 60, let’s just say that she turned into a different person. It took a few days for her to get out of her slump. I’m not looking forward to next year.
I know I’ve written about it before but one of my health issues is that I’m having issues with my breathing. This has been an ongoing thing for several years. It started off as a side effect of one of my cancer medications. The medication was causing fluid to build up around my heart and lungs. I had to have fluid removed from around my lungs on four different occasions totalling up to around 5 liters. The first time I had it done they weren’t sure what was causing my breathing issue and it took several weeks of testing before they found out. During this time I wasn’t able to do much of anything without getting out of breath. Even walking a short distance became a struggle. Remember now, I was still trying to work through all of this.
Like I said, this has been an on going struggle for a couple of years now but after several medication changes it got better. Now it’s back but with a difference. There is no fluid around my lungs. X-rays have proved it. As with the other times, my weight would go up dramatically, and it’s doing the same thing now. I’ve gained upwards around 30 pounds in about a months time. That’s not normal. I’m on mediation to help relieve the fluid but I ran out last week. I had to wait until this week before I could get it refilled because of the insurance.
I think a big contributor to this is salt. I’m supposed to be on a low sodium diet but that’s hard for me to do. I’ve greatly reduced the amount of salt but I need to reduce it some more. Another thing that is not helping is, of course, my diet. I’ve got to do better. I’ve committed myself to a weightloss program for the next six months. But, until I get this fluid undercontrol, I will just continue to gain weight. Losing weight for me right now will definitely be a challenge. One, I get out of breath so easily so walking is a challenge even the treadmill will be a challenge. Two, the fluid. If I only knew the cause then I might could do something about that.2
On August 15th, my birthday, I weighed in at 287.2. On the 16th I weighed 287.4, 18th 288.5, 19th 290.5, also on the 19th I received my medication and the next day, the 20th I weighted in at 286.6. Of course I peed every thirty minutes or so. I haven’t weighed in this morning so I don’t know if I’ve lost any weight or not. BTW, I know I’m going to get some people telling me not to weigh everyday but this is what my cardiologist wants me to do. I should weigh about 275lbs once I get all the fluid off.
I’m planning on posting weekly to let everyone know how I’m doing on my weight loss.
A lot has gone on since my last update. I’ll try to limit my discussion to one or two items as so not to bore you.
My last Oyncologist report was good but on one of the tests shows that my Creatine levels were high so off to the nephrologist I go. Wwe illinated some meds and reduced my lacix but that didn’t help. I was told to lay off my lacix altogether but when I did that I gained nearly ten pounds in a week. Cause? Fluid. Fluid has been my advasary for quite some time. I go to the gym twice a week, I diet all week long, I drink at least 64 oz of water a day but my weight remains about the same each day. As long as I’m on the lacix I’m okay but when I go off it I gain weight. But, on the other hand, while I’m on the lacix I don’t lose weight no matter how hard i try. This has been going on for a couple of months now.
I had a conversation with my cardiologist the other day and he said that he didn’t want me to get my heart rate much above 130 and I’ve been trying to abide by that. It really doesn’t take much to get my heart rate up and when it does it stays around 125 to 135 and that’s when I’m on the treadmill or spin cycle. I usually try to stay on those machines for at least thirty minutes each. When I’m working out with my trainer he has my heart rate up to nearly 120 at times.
Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about my recent eye surgery.
When I started riding back in 2013, I rode a total of 1700 miles. I know, to some of you that’s a drop in a bucket but I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. 2014 is when I was diagnosed and because of my health issues, I was only able to ride 530 miles. I was able to increase my mileage somewhat to 890 miles in 2015. 2016 was a different story. I stayed in the hospital for several weeks because of complications and I never had the energy nor the strength to ride therefore I rode zero miles that year. In 2017, I was determined to start again and I did get a decent start with 150 miles but it soon faded because I was plagued with complications again. In the next two years, I was lucky to get 100 miles or less because of fatigue and weight issues. Because of this challenge that I’ve signed up for, I’ve pretty much-given caution to the wind and I’m going to ride if it kills me.
Today I was able to ride six miles, most of it pretty well. I did have some issues going up against some steep hills but I think once I lose some weight and get more in shape, I’ll get better with the hills. The only way I’m going to get better is to keep doing it. In 2013, I had worked up to 25 miles every time I got on my bike and I was riding close to four days a week during the Spring and Summer. There’s no way I can do that now but that’s my goal.
As promised here is the latest on my new weight loss adventure. I’ve been to the gym every day this week since Sunday with the exception of yesterday. I had so many errands to do that I just didn’t have time to get to the gym. One of my errands was to go look at another treadmill. The one I own will not work while I’m on it. I had to make sure I find one that would carry my weight. The one I found is rated up to 360 pounds. I checked it out and decided to get it but as luck would have it, it will not fit through the door to get into my workout room. I’ve got to figure out how to disassemble it to get it in there. Right now it’s in my garage and my wife isn’t too happy about it because she has to park outside in the cold. I will be spending tomorrow removing my old treadmill and trying to get the other moved.
Last night after I ate supper, I tried out my new-to-me treadmill. It has speakers that I can plug my mp3 player into and of course, it has a multitude of workout options. I spent thirty minutes on the treadmill and worked up quite a sweat. Over 400 calories burned. That may not be a lot for some but to me, that’s a lot. The best thing is that when I woke up this morning I had lost 1.8 lbs. I know that maybe water weight but that’s the first loss since I’ve been working out. I’m excited about it.
I met with a trainer two times this week. I meet with him for thirty minutes then I hit the cycle for thirty and then the treadmill for thirty. On the days that I don’t meet with the trainer, I just do an hour’s worth of either the cycle or the treadmill or a combination of both. Today after my hour and a half workout, I got on my treadmill and did thirty minutes after supper. I know this may be a bit much but I’ve got a lot to lose.
There’s a young lady that is standing behind the desk as you come into the gym. She’s the one that I spoke with when I signed up. She looks to be about 24 years of age. She showed me a picture of herself before she started working out and I couldn’t believe the transformation. She asked me how old I thought she was, I told her about 24 to 25 years old. She said that she was 42 years old. You could have knocked me down with a feather. Today I asked her just how long it took her to lose that much weight. She said it only took her six months to lose it. She said that I could be fit and trim in six months if I stuck with it. We’ll see in six months.
I have been to the gym every day since Sunday. I had not planned on it but why not, I’m not doing anything else. I spend thirty minutes on the treadmill and thirty minutes on the spin cycle. I walk away out of breath and with noodle legs. Today, while on the spin cycle, I must have hit the wrong program because just about the whole thirty minutes I was going uphill. According to my Fitbit, sixteen minutes my heart rate was above 140 beats per minute. About midway into the workout, I thought about quitting. My breathing was hard, I could tell my heart rate was up and my legs started burning. It was then I said to myself, I am not a wimp. I can do this. What I’m doing has got to be better than quitting. After I finished my workout on the cycle, what I felt next was amazing and I haven’t felt like that in quite some time. The fact that I didn’t quit made me feel great. I couldn’t breathe nor could I walk but I felt good inside because I didn’t quit. Tomorrow I work with the trainer for thirty minutes then I’ll get back on the treadmill and cycle again but this time a little less of a workout. My legs feel like they need to heal some.
Well, actually I joined last Friday but I hired a trainer today. I had no idea a trainer was so expensive. Between the cost of joining a gym and signing up for a trainer, I’m spending over $300 a month. Wow, that’s a lot of money. But, if I can get in shape and lose this weight it will be worth it. The gym membership is right at $40 a month for a year. The trainer is $289 a month for six months. I figured I could do without a few things for six months. I will be seeing a trainer twice a week for an hour. I had my free assessment today and the trainer walked me through the paces trying out all the equipment and letting me get familiar with them. We didn’t really work out per se but I can tell we worked out. My main issue and I made sure I told the trainer this, is my breathing.
I have three main causes of my breathing issues. One is I’m really over overweight. 286 to be exact. My body fat is close to 40% and that’s really bad. Two is I have congestive heart failure. My heart doesn’t pump enough blood through my body to carry enough oxygen needed when I exercise. And three, the medication that I take for my CML causes fluid to accumulate around my heart and lungs. When I have an issue with this it causes bad breathing problems. Luckily, I haven’t had any issues with this since last August.
My plan is to work out three days a week, two of which will be with a trainer. Funny thing is that my trainer will be a young man that was in my scout troop. His mother also works there. I just hope he doesn’t try and get me back for all those times I made him work.
I”m really looking forward to working out and getting back in shape. Maybe doing it this way I will be held more accountable being that I’m forking out all this cash. My goal is to reach 225lbs before September of this year. My short term goal is to get down to 275 so that I can get back on my bicycle. It has a weight limit so I don’t want to get on there and break it.
I’ll try and post something every Friday to keep everyone updated on my progress.
This has been a very busy week. Last Thursday was the last day of a very busy month. I will not schedule as much as I did last month. I never thought November would ever get here. If you saw my last blog, you read of my accident with the band trailer. I never heard anything today so I guess everything went alright with the insurance company.
The above picture is of an iron pour. Sparks in the Dark, as they called it. About 100 boy and girl scouts paid $20 for a scratch block so that they could “scratch” in the mold design so that when they poured hot iron into the mold, they would receive their artwork in solid cast iron. This was Saturday night, which was very cold to me.
I lost two pounds this past week. I thought about joining a gym with a personal trainer, one that would tell me what I’m doing wrong and maybe would develop a plan for me to follow. Then I got to thinking, why would I do that. Why would I pay for something that I knew in a few weeks or even a month or so, I would change my mind and not go. I would be just wasting my money. There is a gym, however, that a church sponsors that I have already joined a couple of weeks ago. It’s only $5 a month and there’s no contract. You can go one time a week or five times a week and it’s still the same price. There’s no physical trainer though. They do have some cycles, treadmills, a weight room, and ellipticals.
It’s supposed to be pretty and warm the first part of this week. I think I’ll go to this gym or go to the track and walk. It’s going to start turning colder by the end of the week so if I’m going to enjoy the outdoors I’d better do it now.
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